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[IchiBLEACHcake]

Hello!
I am going to be cosplaying Ada Wong from RE6 soon, and I've been trying to wrap my brain around how to make her huge bowgun. I've made props before, but never anything quite like this.
I was hoping maybe I could find a base gun to work on top of, but not unless it will be accurate enough.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!!

[verdatum]

Basswood would be a good way to go with this. it is cheap and friendly to carve. Buy a couple pieces, butt-join them into a rough L-shape clamp it until the glue dries. Saw out the shape with a coping saw (cheap), work out the details with a combination of rasps. If you have access to gouges or a router, all the better. Sand it up to 220 grit. Predrill a hole and run a couple wood screws from the grip to the body to secure the joint. tack in a trigger and trigger guard with finishing nails. (too much trouble to carve it from a single piece) To get the bow, you would steam-bend a strip of wood and lock it into a bow-shaped jig for a couple weeks. fix any flaws either with Autobody filler putty (Bondo is the common brand name) or wood putty.

Seal the wood with sanding sealer, sand again, prime it, paint it matte black.

I'd leave the string off altogether for safety's sake.

[IchiBLEACHcake]

Originally Posted by verdatum

Basswood would be a good way to go with this. it is cheap and friendly to carve. Buy a couple pieces, butt-join them into a rough L-shape clamp it until the glue dries. Saw out the shape with a coping saw (cheap), work out the details with a combination of rasps. If you have access to gouges or a router, all the better. Sand it up to 220 grit. Predrill a hole and run a couple wood screws from the grip to the body to secure the joint. tack in a trigger and trigger guard with finishing nails. (too much trouble to carve it from a single piece) To get the bow, you would steam-bend a strip of wood and lock it into a bow-shaped jig for a couple weeks. fix any flaws either with Autobody filler putty (Bondo is the common brand name) or wood putty.

Seal the wood with sanding sealer, sand again, prime it, paint it matte black.

I'd leave the string off altogether for safety's sake.

OwO;;; This sounds way above my ability level. I generally make props with plywood and insulation foam.

[verdatum]

The steam-bending is the only hard part really. And even that isn't too bad. Ya just use a tea-kettle, a piece of hose, and a PVC pipe. Wood goes in the pipe, hose runs steam from the kettle to the pipe. Steam warms and moistens wood and then exits the far end of the pipe. After an hour or two, you move the steam out of the way, remove the wood, and clamp it down onto a bow shape ASAP.

Otherwise, the process is pretty much the same as that with plywood or foam. Solid wood just gives you a greater degree of control. You don't have to worry about accidentally denting your foam, or the whole mess of hardening the foam. And you don't have to fight the criss-cross grain structure of plywood, or spend so much time cleaning up those icky endgrain edges.

If you watch the How It's Made episode on making Duck Decoys, it's pretty much the same process, just imagine that the duck's head is the pistol grip of the gun.

[IchiBLEACHcake]

Originally Posted by verdatum

The steam-bending is the only hard part really. And even that isn't too bad. Ya just use a tea-kettle, a piece of hose, and a PVC pipe. Wood goes in the pipe, hose runs steam from the kettle to the pipe. Steam warms and moistens wood and then exits the far end of the pipe. After an hour or two, you move the steam out of the way, remove the wood, and clamp it down onto a bow shape ASAP.

Otherwise, the process is pretty much the same as that with plywood or foam. Solid wood just gives you a greater degree of control. You don't have to worry about accidentally denting your foam, or the whole mess of hardening the foam. And you don't have to fight the criss-cross grain structure of plywood, or spend so much time cleaning up those icky endgrain edges.

If you watch the How It's Made episode on making Duck Decoys, it's pretty much the same process, just imagine that the duck's head is the pistol grip of the gun.

Well sadly I live in a very small apartment with 3 other girls so I barely have room enough as it is to bend the wood, let alone the right space to steam it. The base I'm not all to worried about making, it's just the bow part.

[IchiBLEACHcake]

bump

[djlemma]

The stock and the grip look a bit like this gun, although finding a replica might be tough.

For the bow- if you got a 4' long aluminum bar, 1/8" thick and 2" wide, you could try to find some pillars or something to bend it around. Wouldn't be as thick as what's pictured, but it would be sturdy and wouldn't require you to do much work in your apartment. Also you could do the bending in a few minutes. Hardest part would be making sure it's 100% symmetrical.

[IchiBLEACHcake]

Originally Posted by djlemma

The stock and the grip look a bit like this gun, although finding a replica might be tough.

For the bow- if you got a 4' long aluminum bar, 1/8" thick and 2" wide, you could try to find some pillars or something to bend it around. Wouldn't be as thick as what's pictured, but it would be sturdy and wouldn't require you to do much work in your apartment. Also you could do the bending in a few minutes. Hardest part would be making sure it's 100% symmetrical.

That sounds doable, though I actually just found a tutorial to doing it with PVC so now I'm just looking for the gun base =)